Freedom. The word itself brings a sense of lightness. It is bursting with positive connotations. In fact, it is very hard to think of a scenario where freedom could be viewed in a negative light, at least initially. As human beings, our curiosity has us obsessed with the idea of freedom and what it means. If you ask anyone whether they want more freedom, no strings attached, it is hard to believe anyone would reject it. Even animals enjoy freedom. As soon as you let a dog off a leash it will bound into the new space, soaking up all the freedom it can get (assuming it’s not very well-trained).
What is it though?
One good way to define something is to first define what it isn’t. Looking at the thesaurus, two antonyms of freedom are: captivity, dependence. So, let’s address each one of these antonyms to find out what it means to be free and whether we’re free or not.
Captivity
The first thing that comes to my mind when I see “captivity” is a lion at the zoo. They are trapped in a space, unable to exercise true freedom of movement. To address an abstract term such as “freedom” concretely like this is, well, hard to think about. So, how about we delve into the etymology of “captivity”. When a performance is described as “captivating” what does this mean? Are you literally being held captive? Is your mind controlled, trapped by the performance unwillingly? Well, you can leave the performance, jump out of your seat and start shouting gibberish or you can sit back and continue watching. These actions are in your control, you still do have freedom of choice while viewing a “captivating” performance. It begs the question though, whether your mind can be controlled, and as a corollary, whether your whole world could be.
Compatibilism
What if I said your life was pre-determined? “Well, that’s a load of crap! If that were the case I wouldn’t have to order my pizza, it would just arrive.” This is not determinism. At least not causal determinism. Causal determinism proposes that everything has a cause, whether it is caused by something previously determined or by an exercise of free-will is another question. First you would have to order the pizza, but even then, who’s to say you actually ordered it? Maybe the thought and action of ordering the pizza was implanted by some extra-sapient being i.e. the mind in a vat thought experiment.
Outright determinism is scary for most, myself included. It is nice to think we have some control over our lives. This is why I am attracted to the idea of compatibilism. Compatibilism suggests determinism and free-will are not mutually exclusive.
Let me clarify with an example: You are sitting in a coffee shop reading a freshly printed novel. Your coffee arrives on the table (you say “thank you” I hope) and you continue to read. The teak chair is uncomfortable though. As you wriggle around to find a more comfortable position your elbow stretches out over the top of the table and knocks the coffee right into your lap. You didn’t ever intend to knock the coffee over, but it happened. It can then be said that this was outside your control. However, what about “cogito ergo sum”? You do have consciousness, or else you wouldn’t be experiencing anything at all. So, you actually are in control of something then. You’re in control of your thoughts and actions. You can choose to become angry that you now have a stained shirt, or you can choose to clean it up and move on.
Compatibilism allows determinism and free-will to coexist because determinism applies to anything external and free-will to anything internal. It is a neat philosophical concept that places morality in the hands of the individual while simultaneously giving them the somewhat ironic freedom of nothing external being within their control.
Dependance
Dependance was the second of the listed antonyms for freedom. When you think of someone who’s dependant you may think of an ill person in hospital or someone on government welfare. These people are dependant on physical goods and services (money and nurse care). This is outside their control, since it is external. What about internal then? Can they, or anyone, think dependently? No. They think individually like everyone else.
Rationalism
You gain freedom by being rational. Being rational means, by definition, that you make the best possible decision in a given scenario (“best” being with your circumstantial knowledge). It is to think independently, free from all biases. To become perfectly rational is probably an impossible, but no less worthy, goal. How does one become, or try to become, perfectly rational? That is the topic for another post. For now, take my word for it: Think more rationally, become more free.
For some the mere idea of determinism is enough to stir up feelings uneasiness. Before you throw away the idea though, ask yourself why you are getting these feelings. Ask what could be beneficial and/or detrimental in adopting this view, and then reject it if you still don’t like it. After all, these are only my thoughts, and I might even change my mind.
